David Aldridge is a Hall of Famer and a huge Commanders fan – and he was in the Commanders’ locker room this week, where he saw exactly what’s helping this team continue a magical run as they head to Detroit this weekend.
“A lot of the guys were like, ‘why are you acting like Detroit's gonna beat us by three touchdowns, we’re good too,’ so I got the sense from a lot of people like, don't sleep on us,” Aldridge told BMitch & Finlay Wednesday. “There’s a confidence there, but there’s certainly an understanding of the task at hand and how difficult and good the Lions are, especially with a week off – but after this run they’ve been on the last five weeks, I’d be confident, too. These guys believe that they can go anywhere and beat anybody.”
To Aldridge, the vibe was the same a lot of people seem to be getting: as long as the game is close late and the Commanders have Jayden, they have a chance.
That’s when BMitch flashed back to 1991, when Joe Gibbs would always tell his team how good the opponents were…but as the saying goes, iron sharpens iron, and Aldridge remembers it, too, and it draws an interesting parallel 30-plus years later.
“That ’91 team was a veteran team, with some guys left that had been through it in the ‘80s leading the way as they sprinkled in new guys,” Aldridge remembered. “I remember Gibbs saying he didn’t have to say a whole lot that year, because veterans ran the show and the locker room was taken care of.
This team has that, but the team was put together this year, so it’s not like they've been playing together for five years. And that’s what's so interesting about it: it's just this group of guys, a lot of veterans on one-year contracts and a lot of young guys, and they’re all really contributing. They have rookies in important spots, and I’m not sure why this is working, but it is, and it’s just coming together on the fly.”
And that’s how they’re winning – ‘put the ball in Jayden’s hand and see what happens’ because everyone believes and talent and free-flowing confidence are just leading the way.
JP compared it to BMitch’s Gumbo recipe – as in, there is none, it’s just whatever comes and it all sort of works – but that’s now just part of the team’s DNA, so there’s no room for worry or fear or anything else that’s negative.
“They just feel like get us to the fourth quarter, and we’ll figure out a way to win,” Aldridge laughed. “But this is a different beast you’re playing Saturday night, because you can’t let that track meet get on the field for the first 40 minutes. That team can’t have the ball all night, or you’re going to get your doors blown off. The best defense is keeping their offense on the sidelines.”
Take a listen above as Aldridge goes through some ideas for success on Saturday and a little more reminiscing with the guys!